Situated in Central America, Costa Rica has an area of 50,700 km2 (19,575 sq mi). It is bordered by Nicaragua on the N, Panama on the SE, the Caribbean Sea on the E, and the Pacific Ocean on the W. The coasts are lined with swampy lowlands which extend into the central highlands, a plateau about 1000 m (3300 ft) above sea level. The Guanacaste, the Central, and the Talamana mountains cross the country from the NW to the SE. The highest mountain is Mt. Chirripó, SE of Cartago, with an elevation of 3820 m. The Poas Volcano has the largest volcanic crater in the world.
Gold, manganese and sulfur are mined. Aluminum laterite reserves are proved and will probably be exploited within the next decade.
Geologically the central highlands consist of an extension of the Nicaragua Volcanic Uplands, a more or less stablized region of Oligocene to Miocene volcanics overlying an ancient volcanic foundation of Mesozoic age (probably Cretaceous or older). Faulted down to the SW is a block-faulted zone...
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Fairbridge, R.W. (1975). Costa rica . In: World Regional Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31081-1_39
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31081-1_39
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